Alabama football: Ranking every team of the Nick Saban era
Almost every team that Nick Saban coached at Alabama was great, but which of his 17-year run in Tuscaloosa was his best?
By Josh Yourish
7. 2018 (14-1) Lost in CFP National Championship
Despite an almost identical season, the 2018 team gets the edge over the 2016 team because of the quarterback position. In 2018 as a true sophomore, Tua Tagovailoa threw for 3,966 yards and 43 touchdowns to just six picks.
Tua had the privilege to throw to Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs III, and DeVonta Smith, who all went on to be first-round NFL draft picks, with Josh Jacobs out of the backfield, another first-round selection.
The only loss of the year came to Clemson and Trevor Lawrence in the national championship game, and while it wasn’t nearly as close as two years prior, a 44-16 loss, the 2018 group gets a slight edge for improving from 91st in passing offense in 2017 to sixth in 2018, averaging 323.6 passing yards a game.